1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gaming machine adapted to play a game in which a plurality of symbols including WILD symbols is to be rearranged.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a gaming machine adapted to award a free game as a bonus game is known. (Refer to U.S. Pat. No. 7,258,611, for example.) In a reel game of the conventional gaming machine, the number of free games provided when an event has occurred is determined by a player's selection. A free game is randomly determined or is determined according to the player's betting. Further, the number of free spins in the conventional gaming machine will increase when a predetermined condition is met. At another conventional gaming machine, there is disclosure of providing plural sets of free games (refer to U.S. Pat. No. 7,278,919, for example). There has also been proposed an idea of adding WILD symbols while in a free game in order to enhance a sense of expectation for free game more.
As described above, the idea of adding the WILD symbols while in the free game has been proposed so far. An object of adding the WILD symbols is to impart the sense of expectation to the player. However, even if WILD symbols are added to reels, in the case where the player is not notified of the number of added WILD symbols, the player could not recognize the fact that the WILD symbol has been added. Therefore, this could not produce a full effect of imparting the sense of expectation to a player. For example, in the cases where three or five WILD symbols have been added, even if the player observes scrolling reels, a difference therebetween could not be recognized. In order to solve this problem, it is possible to display to the player a video image showing a process of adding one or more WILD symbols. However, in the case of such an arrangement, a video image showing a process of adding the WILD symbols must be previously prepared.